Saturday, August 31, 2013

No, it's not Mega Man. Not quite. This is Mighty No. 9 — a classic side scroller heavily, heavily inspired by Mega Man. It's a Kickstarter project helmed by Keiji Inafune, Inti Creates (developers of the Mega Man Zero series), and an all-star ensemble of Mega Man veterans including Naoya Tomita (aka TOM-PON) and Manami Matsumae, among others. Read on for the details:

Mighty No. 9 is an all-new Japanese side-scrolling action game that takes the best aspects of the 8- and 16-bit era classics you know and love, and transforms them with modern tech, fresh mechanics, and fan input into something fresh and amazing!

You
play as Beck, the 9th in a line of powerful robots, and the only one
not infected by a mysterious computer virus that has caused mechanized
creatures the world over to go berserk. Run, jump, blast, and transform your way through six stages (or more, via stretch goals) you can tackle in any order you choose, using weapons and abilities stolen from your enemies to take down your fellow Mighty Number robots and confront the final evil that threatens the planet!

Every aspect of development—art, level design, music, programming, etc.—is being handled by veteran Japanese game creators with extensive experience in the genre, and with Mega Man in particular, all the way up to and including the project’s leader, Keiji Inafune himself! Backers will have unprecedented access to seeing this team at work through blogs, podcasts, videos, concept art—the works!

Mighty No. 9 is being developed for the PC with gamepad support
(of course!), and will be made available through Steam and DRM-free
digital distribution methods. Other platforms, including home consoles,
Mac, and Linux, are a high priority, but only if we can afford them via
stretch goals. Should we reach those goals, anyone funding the project
will be allowed to choose which version of the game they would like to
receive. The estimated release date is spring 2015.

The project will carry on the spirit of Mega Man and, in true Mega Man fashion, involve the fans in its production. Inafune and his team need you to help Kickstart the project, vote on characters, and bounce ideas off of the team. Naturally, there's rewards to be had.

Capcom is in no way involved in this. Whether or not this project is a failure is entirely dependent on the fans. It's a $900,000 goal (within 30 days), so every contribution helps. If you'd like to pitch in or just read up on additional details, hit up Mighty No. 9's Kickstarter page here.

This is incredible. I'll be supporting this project with every fiber of my being. I am of course still hoping that Capcom doesn't abandon Mega Man like they claim they will not, but with his future's uncertainty looks much less bleak with Mighty Number 9 here to pick up the fight.

This is an absolutely BRILLIANT IDEA.....unfortunately I already made my pledge :) Don't forget, travel and food isn't included in that, so you guys will have to pick up his plane ticket and room too. Guess Keiji is a little too broke to treat 10 people to lunch lol.

But yea, I'm psyched about this project, Rockman has has a large impact on my life and really shaped my preferences in video games to this day. At this point, I feel like just giving him money to help him out, but I appreciate the rewards.

Doesn't he have every right to though. He just wants to make something that feels Mega Man. I don't see how this can be disappointing or a ripped off concept considering:Astro BoyCyborg 009Medabots Even.

Cyborg 009? Uh I think it's called Mighty no.9 in reference to the fact that there are almost always 8 Robot Masters in the Rockman games, and Rockman is always the 9th and very powerful one in the initial select screen. As is Beck.

You guys jump to conclusions too fast, this is Astro Boy all over again.

The Anonymous do not know what he/she is talking about. Keiji is not ripping himself off. Obviously, Anomyous do not know what he/she is saying anyway!

Anyway, I can't wait. Capcom should give it up and hand it over to him but it doesnt matter. He is making clone Megaman. I am so loving it! Can't wait for more series out of it once this game become popular!

I'll be backing this for sure! Looks like a cute game. Cuter then Mega Man. Wish it was a more darker tone. And would of liked a actual disc then a download code for the game. But hey the download content is the new age now. Gotta get used to it lol... I'll be getting the money ready in two weeks for this. This will be a slap in the face at Capcom for sure!

This honestly reminds me a lot of what Walt Disney went through. For those who don't know, Walt had created a character prior to Mickey Mouse named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. And Oswald, was a pretty big hit, so much so that as his popularity took off, Walt went to the animation company he was working for at the time and requested additional funds to make better cartoons with him in it. Said company, however, had different plans in mind, and not only refused Walt's request but told him to clear out his desk and that THEY were going to keep Oswald.

Literally having to go back to the drawing board, Walt ended up creating Mickey Mouse. Mickey then ended up becoming so popular that Oswald quickly was overshadowed and faded into obscurity until only just recently with his resurgence in Epic Mickey 1 and 2.

I can honestly see something like this happening with Mega Man and, while it would be sad to see Mega Man fade off if Mighty No. 9 takes off and soars like a rocket, I honestly think it'd be for the best if it all ended up this specific way. I mean, wouldn't you all at the least agree that this somewhat passing of the torch from Mega Man to Mighty No. 9 is a LOT better than what Capcom is currently doing with the Blue Bomber, i.e. NOTHING?

This is exactly what Capcom of Japan executives need to realize how stupid they are for doing nothing but social games with a licence everybody's hungry for. I'm pretty sure Inafune doesn't want to make a new Megaman of his own: He wants to show Capcom the good things that they could do if they used the licence properly.

i wonder what keiji meant with his projects was cancelled. was it Legends 3 or Megaman Universe?

anyway, excited for this new game. from the sketches, his arms transform into different weapons like Rockman Legend changed his arm to weapons. and he has a big ass hammer! EPIC WIN! gonna donate once i have some extra money. :D

Comcept does what Capcan't or won't do. I hope this is HUGELY successful just to one up the morons at Capcom Japan who hate MM and think the rest of the world does to. Let the see just how moronic and out of touch they have become.

Most Capcom can do is force them to change the character designs you can't really copyright a game play style minus really specific instances of companies patenting a concept (like the insanity effects in Eternal Darkness, Nintendo has a patent for that).

Action platformer that you get powers from enemies? Yeah no one can claim to "own" the concept of that.

Cancelling Dash/Legends 3, blaming the fans for not supporting enough, and then went on to create an 'all-series crossover' tap-to-win social tablet game...I have lost all hope on any future proper Rockman games. In my eyes, Rockman has been put to sleep eternally, along with many other IPs that had been milked to death and afterwards disposed of by Capcom. May you rest in peace.

And now, a new light is born right in front of my eyes. The Mighty No. 9 might be the real deal of what we are all yearning for. Perhaps it marks the end of an era and the beginning of another one indeed.

Hm... I remember the old "Game Makers" episode from G4TV that I showed to my brothers when I got the Anniversary Collection: It was about Keiji Inafune and the series he's remembered for: "Rockman", a.k.a. "Mega Man". There was a part where he showed various names they thought about using before settling on Rockman & one of them was a name he (through the translator) said aloud was "Mighty Kid". Coincidence? I think not.

Copyright laws in Japan are, for the lack of a better word, looser than in other places. For example, the is a game series called Rosenkreuzstilette, which is nothing more than classic Megaman with magical girls, even having enemies like the Yellow Devil. Capcom couldn't touch it. In short, the overall differences have to out weigh the similarities. Mighty No.9 has as many similarities to Megaman as Dead Rising 1 has to the first Dawn of the Dead.

Capcom did however get Rockmen R: Dr. Wily's Counterattack C&D'd but that's more understandable since it was blatantly made to look like an official product (the company was even named "Capricorn" and had their logo in the same style as Capcom's).

I'd be surprised if Capcom even knows of the RKS games, they're pretty niche and this is coming from a fan of them.

Hey Protodude... TMMN posted an interview with Keiji where he said this...

'TMMN: We know you are sort of limited in what you can talk about in terms of your work with Capcom, but do you know what the last secret of Mega Man 9 is, and if you do, could you tell us?

KI: Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly what what that is. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it because it was during my time at Capcom, but honestly I do not know what you are talking about.'

Think that could get a post? I'd kinda like for CoA to admit they either lied or just show the secret already. Kinda peeved about it tbh

Pledged. After watching the video and listening to the main theme I am behind this and wish this project succeeds. It is most likely the closest thing to a new and good Mega Man game for a while, thank god for Inafune.